Crunchy Chicken Cutlets Coating

Our answer

Nigella's Crunchy Chicken Cutlets (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) are chicken escalopes that are coated in crushed cornflakes rather than regular breadcrumbs. There are a couple of possible reasons why the coating comes off in the frying pan. One is that the oil in the frying pan is not quite hot enough when the cutlets are put in and the coating sticks to the frying pan and becomes detached when the cutlets are flipped over. Make sure that the oil has been heated until it is "shimmering" in the pan. You can drop a couple of cornflake crumbs into the pan if you are not sure, they should sizzle as soon as they hit the oil. Once the chicken cutlets are in the pan then you can reduce the heat slightly if it looks as if the coating is browning too quickly.

The other reason is that the chicken cutlets themselves had a slightly moist surface and this can mean that the coating does not cling as well. You can pat the cutlets dry with paper towels before you dip them in the spiced egg mixture and this should help the coating to adhere.